Presidio
Nearly two dozen people showed up in Presidio Thursday to protest the concertina wire, which the U.S. Army and Border Patrol strung for miles along the Rio Grande, after widespread concerns that flooding could wash the wire downriver. The group, mostly from Terlingua, was galvanized by a recent International Boundary Water Commission (IBWC) reminder about flood risks before the anticipated start of monsoon season.
Concertina wire, also known as razor wire, has been installed along 100 miles of the riverbank in Texas in the name of border security. Its use has been entangled in controversy due to its ability to cause severe injuries. Safe handling usually requires long gloves and teamwork to navigate the high tension. The razor wire has been in place along nearly 14 miles of riverfront in Presidio for several months.
“A lot of Terlinguans are really upset about this. Even if it’s upstream, the concertina wire is really scary for boaters and wildlife,” said Ashley Mahaney, a self-described river enthusiast from Terlingua. She was involved in making the creative signs that many protestors carried depicting local wildlife tangled in wire.
Crystal Albright, a longtime resident of Terlingua and member of NoWall 79852, says that she quickly organized the protest after seeing a public notice from the IWBC in the April 23 edition of Big Bend Sentinel. It advised that the river was prone to flooding, and further instructed landowners, the general public and “users of the land” to contact the IWBC before making any use or improvements of the land along the river in order to protect life and property.
This routine notice comes at a sensitive time as Presidio faces possible construction of a border wall along the river. The city has not received any guidance from either the Army Corps of Engineers or the IWBC about what protections, if any, would be put in place to mitigate flood impact caused by the wall. John Kennedy of the Presidio Municipal Development District is working on commissioning a flood impact report for the city in the absence of federal guidance.
Albright sent and hand-delivered a letter to Customs and Border Patrol and the IWBC detailing concerns about the T-posts used to install the wire becoming overwhelmed and dislodged by floodwaters and posing a risk downstream. The letter was co-signed by Charlie Angell of Angell Expeditions, and Joselyn Fenstermacher of the Big Bend Citizens Alliance.
As recently as 2024, the Supreme Court ruled that Border Patrol agents could remove concertina wire that impeded the Rio Grande in response to a lawsuit brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The IWBC referred questions to CBP, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.